Netherlands gives green light for growing human embryos

Dutch government sanctions ‘limited research’ to help infertile couples and to tackle hereditary or congenital diseasesThe Dutch government has announced it wants to allow growing human embryos “under strict and limited conditions” for scientific research, thereby giving hope to parents struggling to conceive.The Dutch health minister, Edith Schippers, said she “wants to allow the creation of embryos for scientific research – and under very strict conditions to give people the possibility of (healthy) children”. Continue reading...

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Conclusion Material and MethodsTheca cells, collected from normal cycling and PCOS patient underwent ovariectomy, were seeded on culture dishes pre-coated with the extracellular matrix at a density of 6 × 104 cells/ml and cultured for 24 hours. Cells were then treated with either 3T3 conditioned media as a control (C) or Mesenchymal stem cells conditioned media (CM). The C and CM were prepared through collecting the serum-free supernatant of 3T3 and hMSCs at an optimal confluence, 48 hours later. The mRNA and protein expression of CYP17A1, CYP11A1, and DENND1A.V2 were quantified by RT-PCR and Western blot, while ...

Conclusions: The results of this meta-analysis suggest that SERMs may be effective in the treatment of infertile patients with idiopathic infertility. However, the paucity of data does not allow to draw a definitive conclusion.
PMID: 31120775 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

ConclusionsIn combination, the studies discussed, as well as two recent projects of our own on placental imprinted gene expression, suggest that lower birthweights in IVF infants are secondary to a combination of exposures including the infertility and prenatal stress that couples undergoing IVF are experiencing. The work highlighted herein emphasizes the need for appropriate control populations that take infertility into account and also for consideration of prenatal psychosocial stressors as confounders and causes of variation in IVF infant outcomes.

Male infertility is a complex, multifactorial, and heterogeneous condition. In ∼15% of couples, infertility results from an identifiable genetic defect. However, in 40% of couples, male infertility is likely to be caused by an unknown genetic abnormality. Consequently, many men evaluated for infertility may not ultimately be diagnosed beyond the phenotype of their infertilit y, such as azoospermia or maturation arrest. Emerging research into the mechanisms underlying idiopathic male infertility promises new opportunities to provide these men with more specific diagnoses.

When thinking of the great men and women of urology, one might consider the early pioneers in treatment of stones, voiding dysfunction, infertility, or cancer. Throughout history, urologists have also been technological leaders and have been at the cutting edge of medicine and public health. One such leader, Walter D. Greene, emerged in the “Queen City” of Buffalo, New York at the turn of the 20th century, when one of the most serious issues facing American cities was the outbreak of venereal and infectious diseases.

The established clinical indication for FSH use in male infertility is the treatment of patients with hypogonadotropic hypogonadism for stimulation of spermatogenesis that allows the induction of a clinical pregnancy in the female partner and finally the birth of a healthy child. Several clinical studies with urinary, purified and recombinant FSH preparations in combination with hCG have demonstrated the high treatment efficacy regarding these clinical endpoints. Shortcomings of this hormone therapy are the long duration of treatment, sometimes longer than two years, and the inconvenience of injections every second or thir...

Conclusion: The results of this study did not find any established evidence that fertility medications affect the risk of cancer among users. In conclusion, the relationship between infertility treatment and cancer incidence remains an open question.

Abstract Considering that myths and misconceptions regarding natural procreation spread rapidly in the era of easy access to information and to social networks, adequate counseling about natural fertility and spontaneous conception should be encouraged in any kind of health assistance. Despite the fact that there is no strong-powered evidence about any of the aspects related to natural fertility, literature on how to increase the chances of a spontaneous pregnancy is available. In the present article, the Brazilian Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics Associations (FEBRASGO, in the Portuguese acronym) Committee on Endoc...